war stories

i walked in as you were leaving
they told me i just missed you

all these actors, telling me to enunciate,
but i am not a good liar yet,
no, i am not as good at lying as they are,

and i hope it's a learning curve
because i need to pick this up —
how to manipulate my safety at the expense
of all your brilliant scripted scenes

i walked in as you were leaving
they told me i just missed you
but they were wrong;

i step up to the microphone and say,
in quiet, muddled words, the truth —
but you won't hear it clearly enough to understand,
so maybe i am a good liar after all;

i walked in as you were leaving
they told me i just missed you
but they were wrong.

try to make out the words now.
"i don't miss you.
i don't miss you at all."